LSU Football: 5 Reasons Les Miles Can Return Tigers to SEC Glory

Going into the 2011 College Football season, LSU Tigers head coach Les Miles will be under great pressure. The same kind of pressure most SEC coaches are under heading into a season, but this year it will be especially amplified.

The Tigers haven't made it to an SEC Championship game since their BCS National Championship season in 2008.

In his six seasons as the Tigers head coach, Miles boasts an impressive 62-17 (32-15 in conference) record all while playing in the strongest conference in the Nation. Unfortunately for Miles, this great record has only left him with one SEC Title.

If Miles wants to help the Tigers return to the glory of the SEC, there are improvements and alterations he needs to make to his coaching style.

Honorable Mention: Eating Grass

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OK, some people may consider this a joke slide, but the whole Les Miles eating the grass on the sideline fiasco grabs at my superstitions, and whatever he has to do to get LSU back to the national title game, he's got to keep doing.

Since he's been eating the grass, he hasn't done too poorly, so he might as well keep at it.

Stability

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Les Miles has a fabulous resume to back him up. Unlike Nick Saban before him, Miles has provided the team with his experience and expertise to create a stable program.

In all six years Miles has been at LSU, he has given the team a fighting chance for an SEC Championship berth. Barring a few tough losses in the always tough SEC, Miles has been almost a perfect fit with the Tigers.

In every season thus far, Miles has guided the Tigers to a bowl game, winning every one but the Capitol One Bowl in 2009 where they lost 19-17 to Penn State.

Miles brings a certain stability that LSU fans have never seen. Gone are the days of just being happy with finishing in the Top 20, with Miles fans look to be in the Top 10 or better every season, and 2011 will be no different.

Loyalty

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It is pretty hard to find a coach in college, or pro sports for that matter, who displays the type of loyalty Les Miles does to his players and his school.

Twice in his tenure with the Tigers, Miles has been rumored to be leaving to coach at his alma mater the University of Michigan. Most coaches take the money and run, leaving their former team in a tough spot and disappointed.

Miles is not one of these coaches. The loyalty he has shown the Tigers only brings the team closer together and united as one. A team with so much talent and no issues in the locker room is always a dangerous one.

Consistency and Great Under Pressure

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In his six seasons at LSU, Les Miles has lost back to back games just once. Miles is one of the most consistently winning coaches the SEC has ever seen.

In addition to this, Coach Miles works tremendously under pressure, leading the tigers to 17 fourth quarter or overtime comeback victories and is an amazing 23-10 in games decided by just eight points or less.

With the exception of a few questionable calls in games (something ever head coach does on occasion), Miles is extremely consistent in the style of play he chooses for each given game.

Whether it be run heavy or pass heavy, once he picks one, he sticks to it, and more often than not, it turns out in the Tigers favor.

Strong Recruitment

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Since Miles' arrival at LSU, he has always ranked among the top recruiters in the nation. He consistently gets players ranked in the top 200 and addresses all of the teams needs going into a new campaign.

Miles recruits especially well within the state of Louisiana. In college football, recruiting from your home state is crucial to the success of the team.

Included on the 2011 Tigers roster is the No. 1 ranked DT in the nation in local New Orleans product Anthony Johnson, and WR Jarvis Landry, also out of Louisiana, who was in the top three in the country in his position according to scouts.

As the 2011 season is pretty much upon us, Miles has continued to recruit for the future, he already has 18 players verbally committed to play in 2012. If Coach Miles continues to recruit the way he does, it shouldn't be long until the Tigers are back in SEC glory.

The Miles Method

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Les Miles believes in his own method. The Miles Method preaches success in the classroom, doing work in the community and winning championships.

Miles believes that if a player excels in all aspects of college, and dedicates himself to doing good work, results will follow. It's pretty hard to argue against. In a college sport where a lot of programs allow football players to squeak by the bare minimum and only care about the money, Miles has graduated 133 players, with 104 earning SEC academic honors.

Clearly Les Miles go for players he thinks will not only have a high IQ in the classroom but also on the field. Miles shapes his teams with strong character building. The only players who haven't graduated during Miles'six-year reign in Baton Rouge are now in the NFL.

If Miles upholds the Miles Method again in the future, there is no doubt a national title isn't too far away.

Les Miles Can and Will Return the LSU Tigers to SEC Glory

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With the way the first six years at LSU have gone for head coach Les Miles, it's pretty hard to imagine the team do anything but get even better.

Miles has all the necessities and ability to win another national championship for LSU, and if it doesn't happen in 2011, it could very well happen in 2012. Don't look for LSU to have very many off seasons in the near future, but rather, look for them in the AP Top Five year in and year out.

If it's not glory, then it's power. Either or, LSU Tiger fans can count on Les Miles to get them there.